I must be absolutely bonkers!

lately my car building thoughts have drifted from building a wild race car to building the wild thing that will tow it.

for some reason, I am absolutely intoxicated by the thought of a 6.0 liter Powerstroke and it's 6 speed being put into an uber aerodynamic two seat, targa topped, front mid-engined, tube framed, heavy duty suspended, aluminum bodied, highway rollin' tow monster.

In my head it looks a bit like a wider D sports racer with a longer hood, a "targa roof", windshield, and a high mounted trailer hitch.

Find a wrecked Ford F-whatever superduty thingy

Plusses:

Tow a car across the country in relative comfort, turning about 1100 RPM while getting 30 MPG or better with the right tuning.

I would drive something like this EVERYDAY

It has HUNDREDS OF TORQUES

Probably could be built for less than 10G's...I'm sure someone here could do it for 2...

The car could end up weighing less than the engine...

Minuses:

The car could end up weighing less than the trailer... (maybe have massive water tanks for temporary towing ballast?)

road noise

no trunk?

no iPod connectivity? (I could fix that though)

what else is wrong with my ill conceived plan?

Would the torque rip the car in half?

not if you triangulate the tube frame correctly, and use a thick enough walled tubing...

How'a bout a Powerstroke in a Van?

Or how'a bout something like this?

That truck is cool, but i just dont understand the point of a DD that doesnt have an open top anymore.

Miata !!!

put away the crack. You're design would be too rear heavy that it would pick the front end up when hauling. No steering......

I went through a similar phase with Mustangs.

I figured I could take an '88 to '95 then drop in a 460(set back an inch or two) mated to a TKO 600 spinning a 9 inch and install some Cobra knock-off rims(in 17x 10.5 all around of course)to clear the 13" front and 11.5" rear rotors...it's a slippery slope.

Too rear heavy? Just move the engine slightly forward... The powerstroke 6.0 weighs 965lbs!

Plus i said i could figure a way to balast for towing... Balast more to the front.

Heh, like the hanging weights they use for traction contests?

maroon92 wrote: The powerstroke 6.0 weighs 965lbs!

right before it pukes its turbos and EGR..

bad engine choice my friend.

Never had any luck with the 6.0 either. Bad oil pump, rust inside fuel tank, blown head gasket,,,

Local county has replaced two 6.0 in one F550 in 27000 miles, for the third time Ford wanted $14K for the replacement, they installed a 6 cylinder Cummins for $11K

all the torque in the world won't make a good tow rig if its got a short wheelbase.

Wowak wrote: all the torque in the world won't make a good tow rig if its got a short wheelbase.

So what you're saying is it should look like a top-fuel dragster?

Okay, lets say it is more similar to a Viper than a DSR. Longer wheelbase, front engine, open top, heavy.

Is the 7.3 p-stroke any better?

maroon92 wrote: Is the 7.3 p-stroke any better?

Yes, much. But even better use the Cummins out of a Dodge. I have seen them run over a half a million miles. The Ford 7.3s seem to have sensor failure problems.